Lavrov supports Council of Europe resolution on Belarus

Russia is one of the countries whose position is reflected in the Council of Europe’s resolution on Belarus, as Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists at a press-conference held in Moscow on Thursday, ITAR-TASS informs.

“As for the processes evolving after the voting in Belarus, we are tracking down carefully what is going on with the Russians citizens involved”, as he put it. “We have succeeded in liberating the majority of them. Two of them were arrested again, they are charged with organisation of mass disorders. The Russian Embassy in Minsk keeps in touch with them all the time.”

“Yesterday in the Council of Europe a consensus resolution on Belarus was discussed,” the head of the Foreign Ministry added. “It reflects Russia’s position, as well as the positions of all other members of the Council of Europe.”

We remind that yesterday the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe made a statement stressing that “the worrying developments that took place in Belarus following the Presidential elections held on 19 December 2010 raise a number of questions, in particular for the Council of Europe".

“The Committee of Ministers asks the Belarus authorities to provide additional information on what basis the presidential candidates, journalists and human rights activists were arrested in the wake of the elections. They should be immediately released and their human rights guaranteed. Political freedoms should be fully respected,” the Committee of Ministers stresses.

“The Committee of Ministers will continue supporting the establishment of closer relations between the Council of Europe and Belarus only on the basis of respect for European values and principles,” the Committee of Ministers emphasize in the statement.